6 Stretching Myths - Busted!

04/16/2018

The practice of stretching out your muscles
before, during and after your workouts has been commonplace as long as
anyone can remember. In fact some fitness enthusiasts practice it religiously
but is stretching really doing us any good and is it really having the effect
on our bodies that we intend it to have?

When we take a look at the scientific research
on the topic of stretching, we discover that stretching is not all it has
been cracked up to be. In fact, stretching may even be doing us
more "harm" than good.

Let's take a look at the 6 main
reasons why people stretch and see what the research has to say...

Stretching Myth No. 1:

Stretching
Increases Range of Motion in People with Limited Mobility due to Chronically
Tight Muscles (Contractures).

People have always thought of muscles as
stretchy things like elastic bands, when in fact the architecture of muscle is
more like that of Velcro in that the individual segments of the muscle "unhook"
and "re-hook" further along the line resulting in an increase in overall
length. Although there are very small elastic components within the muscle
architecture, for the most part, muscle does not stretch as most people seem to
think it does. One of the main reasons people stretch is to increase joint
range of motion (ROM). Although there will be an increase in ROM after a bout
of stretching due to the stretch causing a relaxation in the muscle (autogenic
inhibition), this effect is only temporary. The research shows us that
stretching does not have clinically important effects on joint mobility in
people with, or at risk of, chronically tight muscles (contractures)[1].

Stretching Myth No. 2:

Stretching
Before/After Exercise Reduces Muscle Soreness.

It is commonly believed that stretching
will help to reduce post exercise muscle soreness also known as delayed onset
muscle soreness (DOMS). Any positive associations are likely due to the placebo
effect and are entirely anecdotal, since solid research found no significant
reductions in DOMS by stretching before/after exercise[2].

Stretching Myth No. 3:

Stretching Helps
to Prevent Injuries.

The second reason why people stretch is
because they believe that it will reduce their risk of a muscle strain or
otherwise getting injured. There is absolutely no evidence to support this
idea. A meta analysis of 60 different randomized control trials did however show
that stretching had no benefit to injury prevention what so ever[3]. In fact,
stretching before or during exercise could put you at a higher risk of injury
due to the temporary reductions in muscle performance that result after
stretching (remember autogenic inhibition mentioned above). One study
demonstrated that after stretching, muscle peak force decreased significantly
(by 54%) and remained depressed for the entire recovery period (2 hours)[4].
Put simply, stretching makes you weak - the opposite to what you're likely
trying to achieve with your workouts.

Stretching Myth No. 4:

Stretching
Improves Sporting Performance.

Contrary to popular belief, stretching
has quite the opposite affect to improving physical performance. As we learnt
after busting Myth No.3, stretching makes your muscles weak so it's nonsensical
to think that weak muscles would result in an improvement in performance.
Reassuringly the evidence supports this logic. One study showed how a 60 second
stretch before a vertical jump test reduced performance (jump height) by
3.4%[5]. Another study showed that static stretching before running slowed down
the initial 100m pace and jump height was reduced by over 9%[6]. If your goals
are muscle growth then stretching is disastrous for your "gainz" since
performing flexibility training immediately before resistance training can
contribute to a lower number of repetitions, total volume, and reduced muscle
hypertrophy[7]. The bottom line is, if your goals are to improve your strength
and performance, leave the stretching for the yogis, professional gymnasts and
ballet dancers.

Stretching Myth No. 5:

Stretching Muscles
Can Result in a Permanent Change in the Resting Muscle's Length.

As explained earlier, muscles don't
stretch they lengthen; you lengthen a leather belt by changing the notch
position, not by trying to stretch the leather. So once you understand the anatomy
of the muscle, it's nonsensical to think that you can elicit a permanent change
in muscle length by stretching it - if you could, you'd be flopping around
everywhere like Mr. Fantastic! Research shows that after 6 weeks of static
stretching, no structural change in muscle length was detected despite a
significant increase in range of motion which can only be explained as being a
change in tolerance to the stretch[8]. In other words, you just get used to the
pain and can push the position a little bit further each time.

Then there's fascia - The idea of
stretching fascia (think Iliotibial Band stretches) becomes even more silly
when you learn that fascia has the tensile strength of steel - ever tried to
stretch steel? Not surprisingly, this study showed no structural change in fiscal
length after stretching[9]. Besides, fascia isn't supposed to be loose, if it
was it wouldn't serve its intended purpose - to be tight.

Stretching Myth No. 6:

Stretching Helps
to Tone Your Muscles

It's a common belief that stretching
will make your muscles long, lean and toned. As we've already established in
Myth No.5, stretching does not change the resting length of muscles so it is
impossible that stretching will make your muscles longer. Neither does
stretching "tone" your muscles. In fact stretching before your workouts can
result in suboptimal muscle tone development by way of reducing the number of
repetitions and total volume you're able to complete[7].

Muscle Tightness is Secondary to Muscle
Weakness:

Muscles become tight when the opposing
muscles are weak/inhibited. The tightness is being generated by your nervous
system as a form of protection to purposefully prevent you from going into a
position of instability where you're likely to get injured. As far as your body
is concerned, "Mobility Without Stability = Vulnerability!"

The tightness is a symptom of weakness
elsewhere, not the cause. Using stretching (or any other form of intervention
that loosens the tightness) is effectively violating your body's own protective
mechanism and does nothing to address the weakness/instability that caused it. Remember,
"Mobility Without Stability = Vulnerability!"

So if stretching is not the answer to
increasing flexibility, what is?

If you need to increase your range of motion,
instead of trying to stretch the tight muscles, work on activating and
strengthening the muscles responsible for getting you into the position you
want to get in to. So for example, if your hamstrings are tight and you can't
touch your toes, then do some isometric exercises for your hip flexors and
abdominal muscles since these are the muscle required to contract properly to
get you closer to your toes. Once these muscles are firing better, your body
recognizes that it no longer needs to protect, so the tightness literally melts
away from the hamstrings and your range of motion will improve. Keep those hip
flexors and abdominals strong in their shortened position and you'll have
achieved long term flexibility without the need to stretch the hamstrings any
more.

The Bottom Line:

Stretching may increase mobility/flexibility
by temporarily inhibiting the tight muscles but it does nothing for long term
flexibility or improving strength and stability in that new range you've just opened
up. Instead of stretching, use isometric exercises to activate the opposing
muscles.